Devon Cricket Board - Exeter cruise to 10-wicket win

PREMIER 2nd XI – WEEK THREE

EXETER 2nd XI captain Richard Nelsey said he felt sorry for team-mate Graham White after the County Ground outfit trounced North Devon by 10 wickets.

Ollie Hunt (68) and Dan Bowser (46) put on 107 without loss, then Max Curtis hit 42 in a 50-over total of 219 for nine.

There were two wickets each for Tom Grimes, Steve Milne and Tscehpo Legodi.

Exeter openers Mike Wilkinson (125no) and Sean Langford (89no) knocked off the run with five overs to spare.

“You couldn’t help but feel sorry for Graham as he came down from the 1st XI to get some time in the middle and going in at three expected to get some,” said Nelsey.

“Poor old Graham sat there with his pads on for 40 overs, but didn’t get a bat.

“I think once we got past 200 he was past the point of caring.

“Mile was dropped once in the 50s, but otherwise it was chanceless stuff by him and Sean.”

Nelsey said although the batsmen hogged the limelight, the bowlers deserved a bit of credit as well.

“North Devon were 107 for none after 20 overs and at that stage we were looking at chasing 270 or even 280,” said Nelsey. “To keep them to 219 was a great effort.”

Hatherleigh were 106-run losers at Budleigh Salteton, where they let the home side off the hook and were made to pay a heavy price.

With Ross Cherrington (3-42) and Ian Cockwill (2-24) among the wickets, Budleigh subsided to 46 for four.

Ian Taylor (73) and Charles Morris (65no) added 125 for the fifth wicket as Budleigh recovered to finish on 214 for six.

Hatherleigh were all out for 108 in reply with Cockwill (28) and Mark Jones (24) the only significant scorers. They slumped from 25 for none to 29 for three, wobbled on to 67 for six and were all out in the 26th over.

Morris capped a fine game with four for 17 and Matt Plowman had four more for 24.

That win put Exeter second in the table, level on points with Sidmouth who won by eight wickets against Plympton.

Plympton were 25 for two when Alex Carr (40) and Neil Tremayne (43) came together and started a stand of 67.

Wickets tumbled from 102 for three to Graham Munday (4-21) and Charlie Dibble (4-31) as Plympton bowed out for 144.

Sidmouth got away to a 105-run start thanks to Tom Overthrow (52no) and Matt Hewer (48). Fionn Wardrop (13no) was in at the end when the winning runs were hit in the 40th over.

Two players at different ends of their careers stared for Paignton 2nd XI in their 107-run win over Cornwood.

Dan North, made 102 as Paignton racked up 264 for five, then Farkins bagged six wickets for 13 runs as the Corns were bowled out for 157 in reply.

North at 25 still has a long way to go while ex-Devon batsman Farkins at 46 is approaching the twilight of a long career with Barton, Torquay, Abbotskerswell, Babbacombe and Paignton.

It was North’s first ton in the league, one which captain Tim Ward said was richly deserved.

“Danny batted very sensibly and the most pleasing part was that he batted time,” said Ward.

“Normally Danny goes at all guns blazing but doesn’t tend to last much longer than 10 overs.

“It’s the longest time I have seen Danny bat and he got just rewards for his patience.”

North and Simon Mantell (50) hoisted 97 for the first Paignton wicket. Callum Stanley (43no) kept the scoreboard wheels ticking over.

Cornwoood were all out for 157 in reply with Matt Skeemer – the grandson of league president Graham Shears from Chudleigh – making a top score of 45. Farkins (13-7-13-6) was backed up by Liam Bryan (3-58) in the job of dismissing the Corns.

Bovey Tracey’s last-wicket pair of Simon Newton and James Mason broke a league batting record in an unsuccessful attempt to save the game against Plymouth.

Faced with a daunting total of 312 to win – Nick Read making 94 for Plymouth – Bovey were an unimpressive 48 for nine in reply after a going over from Dinuka Kuruppu (7-26) and Sam Stein (2-42).

Newton (47no) and skipper Mason (40) batted for 18 overs to add 93 before Stein broke the stand.

By one run they bettered the 92 made by Lloyd Loman and George Greenway for Exmouth against Sandford in 2009.

Earlier, Read and Rob Button (27) put on 92 for Plymouth, which was topped up by Ben Ferraro (41) wit Read in a stand of 56.

Andrew Longstreet had figures of five for 43 for Bovey.

Skipper Mason had no complaints about the result, commenting: “If Nick Read is a 2nd XI player I dread to think how strong their 1st XI is.

“Plymouth are the strongest side we have come up against for a long time and it was a good experience for some of our younger players.

“Kuruppu is quality – he bowls around off-stump and brings the ball back to the batsmen – and that isn’t something you come up against very often in this division.”